Brandon's Brithday

Several years ago on this day, I was lying in a bed in Hendricks Hospital holding a scrawny, crying, red little baby.  We named him Brandon Scott (Brandon is my maiden name, and Scott comes from a wonderful friend of the family Scott Hayes). 

Time passes so quickly; I wish could remember all the fun times we shared over the years; but they all add up to a glorious enriching of our lives with this baby.  I just wish Sam could see him grown up.  He would be so proud.

Many of the things I see and hear these days remind me of times with him.  Bands recently performed on a field near me, and I remembered the days when Sam and I followed the Wylie Band and Brandon all over West Texas to football games for four years--how many is that?  40 games, maybe?
I recently met someone from Seymore, and I immediately could picture that football stadium with the band marching in the West Texas wind.  A friend's granddaughter recently won regional in the UIL vocal contest.  I remember sitting with Brandon waiting to find out if he won that while in high school.  (He did.)  Brandon recently helped choose the Sing Song Hosts for next year--and I remember all the fun times associated with his winning that role and performing for his dying father.  This week I spoke to a group aboout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn being America's finest novel, and I thought of the performances of Big River in which Brandon appeared with us watching proudly.

So tonight we will celebrate with all those memories crowded in my head:  Happy Birthday, Babe! I love the way you love God and love me.

The Big Day

He wasn't the billionith (sp?) child born--but he was the most important in my life--my one and only.  Today is the 42nd birthday of Brandon Scott Thomas.  Looking back on that cold November day when we brought him home to Potosi, I can't help but think of the blue blanket (made by Pat Phillips) in which he was wrapped,  and the Manhattan Supper Soup she brought by--yum.  We have eaten it every winter since.

We put him in the bed borrowed from Wanda and Fred Hughes, wound the little nursery rhyme mobile (still have it somewhere!) and hoped he would sleep a little while.  Sam and I both just stood, looked and sighed over this treasure from heaven.

After listening to him cry for what seemed like hours, this little treasure lost some of its luster.  Fortunately, my mother was visiting, and she knew just the right technique to soothe him.    Sam and I wearily shook our heads about what we did not know about babies.  We were bound to learn a lot in the next few years, and we enjoyed every minute around our red-haired, blue-eyed explosion.  He made our lives exciting, energetic, (sometimes frenetic) and full of laughter and joy.

While Sam is gone, Brandon still does those things for me.  I thank God every day for this sweet baby and fine man he has put in my life.  I can't imagine my life without him, without all the memories, and without each day's joy.  What a treasure!

Happy birthday, Babe.  I love you.  Mom

Brandon's Birthday

Today is the birthday of my one and only chick Brandon Scott Thomas, born in Hendrick Hospital, Abilene, Texas on this day.  As Bruce Springsteen has said, "We all carry a landscape within us."  At the time of Brandon's birth, we lived in the country on a dead end road--the perfect place to roam and play.  It seems like only yesterday that he was picking flowers from the flower bed and presenting them to me, riding his horse Tiger, motoring around on his go-cart, chasing chickens (and being chased by a rooster), raising a championship pig, and going to Interscholastic League contests as a singer and the drum major of the Wylie High School Band. It was just a leap to Abilene Christian where he continued his love of singing by performing in Summer Stage (a presentation for several summers by the music and theater depts.), acting in the Homecoming Musicals, and traveling all over the country recruiting for ACU in singing groups like Reflections, etc.  Of course we attended every presentation he was in and loved it.

The highlight of his time as ACU was appearing in Sing Song.  Again from  a front seat at every performance we loved him--Sam was so sick, he could hardly sit there, but he willed to be there.  And then Brandon came to Nashville, became a worship leader and the leader of the Zoe Group.  Here again were opportunities for me (now alone after Sam's death) to enjoy his presence, godliness and singing abilities from a front seat.  Now he is a husband and father and excelling at that as with all other things.  Of course, he has his failings, but mothers do not dwell on such things--they simply enjoy their sons.

Happy birthday Brandon, your mom loves you.

Swift Transition

   There is an old song with the words, "Time is filled with swift transition."  This weekend, I really believe it.  My baby turned 40 years old!  He was once a crying, red-haired baby in a crib at Hendrick Memorial Hospital in Abilene.  Born about 6:00 on November 15, he was a joy from the beginning.  Now he is a handsome red-haired robust, chariasmatic man full of fun and life.  I knew him when he would  eat  only raw oatmeal (straight from the packet) and sugar for breakfast.  Now he loves Mexican food, Sheryl's pasta salad and my lasagna.  I knew him when he raised a champion Hampshire pig named Wilbur; now he is raising (rearing) three beautiful children named Maddie, Ella and Sam.  I knew him when he was the drum major of the local Wylie High School Band--we followed him everywhere and loved it.  Now he is the drum major for many cruise ship performers who come to Nashville to be trained for performing on the sea.
   I knew him when he sang to his father from the Sing-Song stage at ACU; now he tells his children "Poppy" stories, and they can't wait to meet Poppy in heaven.  I knew him when he came into Moody Coliseum to tell me that he wasn't going to graduate school, but rather had auditioned at Six Flags Over Texas and was going to perform there.  Now he trains others to perform.  I knew him when he dyed his hair, wore a spangled vest without a shirt and sang  as the major male perfomer on a Norwegian cruise ship; now he enjoys wearing fancy shirts in the Nashville tradition--I can no longer go to the Ralph Lauren section in Dillards and buy him a shirt. I knew him when he traveled and performed in several ACU groups and recruited for the school.  Now he travels and leads the Zoe Group as they inspire and lead thousands of people to worship.
    Some of these transitions  held joy and pain, but for me they were  mostly times of great fun, joy and praise.  I am so proud to be the mother of Brandon Scott Thomas, and I await more days of transition and exultation as I continue to watch him grow in the Lord.

Happy Birthday

Our first meeting was less than auspicious. He was hairless, scrawny, red and screaming. I was tired and tearful.
If the rule of first impressions applied, we would have been only fleeting acquaintances. But he was my new son, and I had take him home.

Things improved, and life with Brandon Scott Thomas became 24/7 joy for his mom and dad. For the last three decades, love has grown beyond any boundary. Neither of us is perfect, but we have been mightly blessed by God in our journey together. I thank God daily for Brandon's ebullient, charismatic personality and for his tender heart and touch.

Thank you, God for all the gifts you have given my son. They have charmed and blessed all who know him. I pray that the rest of his life will be filled to overflowing with love for You, love for his family, and love for others.

Happy Birthday yesterday, Babe--and thank you for the journey.

Love, Mom

Brandon's birthday

Today 38 years ago at about 6:00 am at Hendrick Hospital in Abilene, the little package that Sam and I had waited for so long for arrived. Brandon Scott Thomas! His first name is my maiden name and Sam's brother's name; his middle name comes from Scott Hays, Sam's beloved mentor and principal at Fair Park Elementary School in Abilene. The grandparents were rejoicing (Mine were there) and we called Pasadena to notify Sam's parents as soon as possible. Those were the days of yore when parents did not know the sex of the baby until born--we were delighted to have a boy, and even more delighted to have a child. We had been married seven years, and it seemed that all our friends already had their first one.

Brandon was a bubbly delight all his early years with quirky food tastes like all kids. His favorite breakfast food was instant oatmeal uncooked with sugar. He got plenty of vegetables--we had a little pump that shot them directly into his mouth--no, honey, let's get the spoon in there for us, just a simple shot. He loved his Lincoln Logs and a Fisher Price car garage with lots of Hot Wheels cars. He also loved to roam outside and dig, pick flowers, say hello to his horse, Tiger and breathe the fresh Potosi air.

Probably his favorite Christmas gift of all time was a go-cart in which he terrorized the neighborhood and one utility pole. We put in an above-the-ground pool when he was about 12, and he became a huge "water baby," loving the water to this very day.

I am so sorry that Sam did not live to see the intelligent, kind, spiritual, respected church leader that Brandon has become and to see His children. But, I believe Sam is seeing us and enjoying, if only from a distance.

Thank you, Babe, for 38 years of delight and all the abundant blessings you have given me.